Mechanical power transmission elements, such as gears, pulleys, wheels, etc., are frequently mounted on a shaft and must be restrained from sliding off the shaft by means of a retainer clip mounted in a circumferential groove on the shaft. The clip is usually a ring from which a portion has been removed. The remaining portion of the ring can be sprung apart slightly to slide it over a circular shaft which has an outside diameter closely approaching the inside diameter of the ring. The difficulty with attaching such a ring is the awkwardness of holding the ring, usually with pliers, while giving the ring a sharp tap with a hammer to spring apart the ends of the clip and get the clip to slide into place. In detaching the ring a forked instrument is placed against the ends of the ring and a tap with a hammer is required to remove the clip, which frequently flies off the shaft so rapidly in an unpredictable direction that it is lost. There clearly has been a need for a simple system for detaching and attaching such clips.
It is an object of this invention to provide a tool for attaching or detaching a split ring spring clip from a shaft. It is another object to provide a manual tool for such purposes. Still other objects will be apparent from the more detailed description which follows.